Over the summer it was fun to travel to Europe and enjoy weekend breaks, the first Europe trip was to Budapest. I heard many positive recommendations about the city from friends and family who said it was worth visiting as it was cultural, very pretty and a friendly place.

I can confirm the above statement to be true, Budapest has some stunning Hungarian art nouveau architecture, you can find many examples of it around the city. As well as the classical style you can also find many examples of soviet era architecture as well, I liked both styles of architecture, and they both have their individual unique characteristics.

Budapest is broken down in numbered districts and I was staying in district 7, which was the old Jewish quarter, a short walk into the centre, we found all the usual tourist sites, I was more interested in being in coffee shops and discovering the hidden gems of Budapest, Some of the landmarks and cultural sites included the Palace of Arts, Castle district, Chain Bridge, Nyugati station, Országház, New York Cafe, Rudas Bath, House Of Terror, Museum of Fine Art.

Scholastic Chaos Sisters

The Chaos Sisters

Scholastic Publishers USA Approached my New York Agent B&A for a New Book Cover Illustration Commission. Unfortunately the Cover was not approved which is a little disappointing and can happen sometimes due to a change in ideas and thoughts. The cover illustration was for a new book titled called Chaos Sisters which is a series of three books written about a time set in the near future after a apocalypse.

The year is 2020, and America is in a state of turmoil. Hurricanes, earthquakes, and revolutions have decimated the landscape as we know it. The world is at war. For four 13-year-old girls, safety is a key issue and for that reason the four girls are sent away from all that they have know, But Louisa, Maddie, Rosie, and Evelyn are about to find out that nothing is safe, and they only have each other to rely on now.

The brief was to illustrate a ornate, pretty locket which should be the main object on the cover—oval shaped, attached to a delicate chain looping around, suspended in air or water. Other elements, to illustrate into the floral boarder A gothic, iron gate, which surrounds the boarding school which the girls have been sent to, and the school itself, a stately old looking country manor with a large lake next to it. School: notebooks, pencils, pens, Camping/survival: bows and arrows, flashlights, Forest: snakes, apples, oil lamps, tents, matches, butterflies, flowers, leaves, compasses, canteens, , and candles.

Macy’s Flower Show

Macys Petacular

I was once again contacted by the creative department for Macy’ department store NY. Macy’s have asked to have me create the remaining two illustrations for the Petacular event that is part of the overall Flower Show Event. Macy’s briefed to have a dog and a cat created in the same manor as the Flamingo, which was created for the main Macy’s flower show parade poster. The illustration will be used over the sky background as was used on the recently completed poster.

The Petacular illustration of the Macy’s Cat and dog are created from much smaller silhouette icon illustrations of flowers and leaves and pet inspired objects you might associate with pets. Each object was placed over the large silhouette of the cat and dog illustration. Each little icon was carefully placed and pieced together to create the larger illustration of the Macy’s cat and dog. Once the shape of the pets were completed, the guide was taken away to reveal the Macy’s pets made up of small icons.

The Macy’s Petacular poster print was used in conjunction with the main Macy’s flower show poster. The Petacular parade, is part of the Macy’s flower show held in New York city, New Yorkers come along to the parade with their groomed pets to show them off for the special one day event.